Method and apparatus for the regeneration of preserved foods, nutriments, and like materials



Nov. 16, 1943. s. HERMANN 2,334,327

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE REGENERATION OF PRESERVED FOODS, NUTRIMENTSAND LIKE MATERIALS Filed NOV. 22, 1941 INVENTOR Patented Nov. 16, 1943UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE BE- GENERATIONOF PRESERVED FOODS, NUTRIMENTS. AND LIKE MATERIALS Siegwart Hermann, NewYork, N. Y.

Application November 22, 1941, Serial No. 420,058 9 Claim. (Cl. 99-182)It is known to preserve foods, nutriments and like materials byhermetically enclosing them in vessels, cans or the like, and heatingthem up to approximately IUD-125 C. At these temperatures themicro-organisms and their germs lose permanently their viability and arecompletely destroyed. The material so treated becomes sterile andremains lastingly preserved.

This heat-treatment of the said substances 4 has the disadvantage, thatthe heat destroys many of their original ingredients which are vital forlife, such as vitamins, hormones and enzymes so that their nutritivevalue is diminished in an undesired degree. This heat-treatment makes italso impossible to add to the foods, nutriments and similar materialswhich have to be prescribed, such substances which are unable to resistthe applied heat. Such additions are sometimes desirable for dietaryand/or therapeutic purposes.

The main object of my invention is to prevent the above mentioneddisadvantages and to overcome the aforesaid dimculties by rendering itpossible to include non-heat-resistant substances, which are vital forlife and/or desirable for dietary or therapeutic purposes, in foods,nutriments or like materials which have been preserved in hermeticallyclosed vessels or cans by heat-treatment.

My invention consists basically therein, that the non-heat-resistantsubstances which are vital for life such as vitamins, hormones andenzymes, and/or other non-heat-resistant substances desirable fordietary or therapeutic purposes are injected into the hermeticallyclosed vessels or cans after their heat-treatment by means of aninjection needle whereupon the perforation caused by the needle is againhermetically closed. These operations are preferably'performed in asterile space or chamber. The closing of the needle-prick can be made bysoldering, welding or similar means and every vessel or can may beheated separately or two or more vessels or cans may be treatedsimultaneously in groups.

The novel features that I consider characteristic of my invention areset forth with particularity in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation,together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best beunderstood from the following description of an apparatus chosen out ofmany possible forms when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which Fig. 1 shows a view, partly in section on the line I-Iof Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top view beneath the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

4 is a partial top view corresponding to The vessels, cans or the like Iare transported from left to right by a chain or a plurality of chainsor a chain-grate 2 from a fixed table 3 over a working table 4, whichcan be raised and lowered, to the fixed table 5. The vessels I are soset in the chain-meshes that they may move up and down according to theup and down movements of the working-table l, which rests on thepiston-rods I of hydraulic or similar cylinders ii.

The working table-plate 4 forms the bottom of a tunnel shaped chamber 8,which is surrounded by the side-walls 9 and the ceiling plate III. Abovethe left half of this ceiling-plate III lies a tank I I, which isconnected with an installation to put the liquid in the tank underpressure, this installation consisting, for example, of the cylinder i2in which a piston l3 may be moved. The tank II may be refilled from astore tank ll through the pipe I5 which contains a valve I6.

The ceiling-plate II), as far as it forms the bottom of the tank I I,bears injection-needles H which are so arranged that always one needlelies over a vessel or can I. In the same manner are electric welding orsoldering rods or wires I8 arranged in the right half of thechannel-ceiling III.

The table-plate 4 bears U-shaped stirrups 22 which embrace the cans Iand take them down with the table-plate i.

Fuel or gas pipes 20, H are arranged at the entrance and outlet openingsof the tunnelshaped chamber 8. The fuel or gas emanates from these pipes20, H in such a manner that, when burning, a flame wall is formed whichcloses the chamber in a sterile manner against the exterior. This flamewall causes also a sterilization of the surface of the vessels or cans Iwhile they traverse through the flame before being treated in thechamber 8.

The process is performed in the following manner:

The vessels or cans I which contain the preserved foods, nutriments orthe like, are put in the meshes 'of the transport chain 2, andtransported from the table 3 into the chamber 8. On this way the cans Ipass through the flame wall emanating from the pipe 20 so that theirsurface is sterilized. The outlet end of the chamber 8 is closed by theflame-wall emanating from the pipe 2|, so that the chamber-space 8remains sterilized.

According to the specific embodiment shown in the drawing, four rowseach containing four cans are in the beginning brought into the chamber8, so that always one can is situated beneath an injection-needle l1.

Then the working-table 4 is raised according to the arrow 23 and thecans I are pressed against the injection-needles H which penetratethrough the vessel-walls. Thereupon the liquid contained in the tank IIis injected under pressure caused by the piston l3 through theinjection-needles i! into the cans I. This liquid contains thosesubstances which have'to be introduced in the cans such as vitamins,and/or hormones and/or enzymes and/or other substances desirable fordietary or therapeutic purposes.

After completion of this injection the workingtable 4 with the cans isagain lowered and the cans which just have been treated are transportedbeneath the soldering or welding rods I8. Simultaneously new cans arebrought under the injection-needles I! in the left half of the channel.

Now the working-table 4 is again raised so that the new cans may betreated as described before and that simultaneously the needle-pricks inthe cans now situated under the soldering or welding rods I8 may beclosed.

Thereafter the working-table 4 is again lowered and the described actsmay be repeated. The cans treated according to the invention are removedabove the table from the transport chain 2.

It may be noted that, as used in this specification and in the claims,the term can includes any hermetically closed vessel, which may be usedfor the preservation of foods, nutriments and similar materials, andwhich is in whole or in part made from a material that can be perforatedby a needle.

The term "canned foods includes any foods, nutriments, dietarysubstances and the like, which are hermetically enclosed in cans andthen have been sterilized by heat.

Having described and illustrated one form ofmy invention, I wish it tobe understood that my invention is not to be limited to the specificform or arrangement of parts herein described and shown, or specificallycovered by my claims,

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for inserting accessory ingre-.

dients into the sterilized contents of sealed containers which comprisesa sterile working chamber, an accessory feeding device capable ofpenetrating the container wall and a device for sealing said opening.

2. An apparatus for inserting accessory ingredients into the sterilizedcontents of scaled containers which includes a sterile working chamberand within this chamber a puncturing device to penetrate the containerwall, an inserting device for introducing accessory ingredients throughthe dients into the sterilized contents of sealed containers whichincludes a sterilizing zone through which the containers enter anadjacent sterile chamber in which they are operated upon, a feedingdevice within this chamber for inserting accessory ingredients into thecontainer through an opening caused in the container wall, and a sealingdevice for reclosing the opening within the sterile chamber.

5. An apparatus for inserting accessory ingredients into the sterilizedcontents of scaled containers which includes a sterile working chamber,at least one injection needle within this chamber, means for causing theinjection needle to penetrate the container wall and for removing itagain therefrom, means for inserting the accessory ingredients throughthe injection needle into the container, and a sealing device forreclosing the penetration also within the sterile chamber.

6. An apparatus for inserting accessory ingredients into the sterilizedcontents of sealed containers which includes a sterile working chamberthrough which the containers pass and wherein they are operated upon, afeeding device within this chamber for puncturing the containers andinserting accessory ingredients through the puncture, and a device forresealing the container within the chamber.

7. The method of inserting accessory ingredients into the sterilizedcontents of a sealed container comprising the steps of sterilizing thecontainer wall, puncturing the same, inserting accessory ingredientsinto the container, and closing the opening, the puncturing, insertingand reclosing being performed within a sterile chamber.

8. The method of inserting accessory ingredients into the sterilizedcontents of a sealed container comprising the steps of sterilizing thecontainer wall, puncturing the same, inserting accessory ingredientsthrough the puncture, and

rescaling the container, the puncturing, inserting and resealing beingperformed within a sterile chamber at a temperature which is innocuousto the accessory ingredients.

9. An apparatus for inserting accessory ingredients into the sterilizedcontents of sealed containers which includes a sterile working chamber,means for the formation of a flame wall closing the entrance and outletopenings of this chamber, and within this chamber a, feeding device forpuncturing the container wall and for inserting accessory ingredientsinto th container, and a sealing device for reclosing the puncture.

SIEGWART HERMANN.

